From Sickness to Music and Death
by Looney Loopy Lupin
Summary: Set after Mulder's return in season 8, him and Scully go to Illinois to solve a case about a missing girl. 7Up, TheraFlu, and a Casio Keyboard are the only words that can describe this experience.FINISHED!
1. Chapter 1

Fox Mulder sat at the desk, pondering the evidence at hand. Scully came in, yawning as she took her coat off.

"So, what's this new case about?"

"Well, a girl disappeared out of her bedroom."

"Mulder, I really hope you don't think-"

"No I don't think that because there were a few traces of evidence. Fingerprints, and that sort of thing."

"Where is this place anyway?"

"Illinois." He answered in a flat tone. She sighed, thinking of the hell she'd have to go through with her mother.

"Well, if you don't want to come..." He said.

" No, I want to. We haven't had a case in over a week, but it's just my mother I'm going to have to deal with." Scully said. Mulder's eyes laughed at her while his mouth stayed serious. "She doesn't believe in travel in my 'condition'." He couldn't stop his mouth from smiling at that statement.

"So, are you going to come or not?"

"Mulder, tell me why on earth I wouldn't." She said, a smile coming to her face.

O-O-O-O-O

Mulder drove in silence, trying to avoid waking a sleeping Scully. He had noticed in the last few days that she never truly slept that well. Last night had been the worst, because she had to get up several times in the night to vomit. He tried to help her; holding her hair back, helping her back to bed. After she was done, he tried to comfort her by holding her in bed, but so many times, she had to get up again and again. He didn't know if she was truly sick or if this was just due to the baby. She was much more pale than usual, and definitely seemed to tire more easily. He lightly held her hand, and discovered that it was ice cold. A pang of fear throbbed in his mind. He quickly stopped the car while unbuckling his seat belt. He put a hand to her forehead, and to his dismay, he found that is was very warm. He knew she had a fever, and he grabbed her purse, looking through all of the compartments for some sort of medication. To his relief, he found a small package of Tylenol.

"Scully?" He said quietly. In response, she opened her bloodshot eyes slowly. "Here, put these in your mouth." Mulder handed her the two pills while he searched for a bottle of water. When he discovered an unopened one in the back seat, he handed it to her. She swallowed the combination of the pills and water slowly, hoping it would not come back up. After she was sure that it wouldn't go into reverse, she leaned her head against the side of the window, shutting her swollen eyes. He held her hand, trying to comfort her in some way. She gave him a tiny smile before drifting back to sleep. A few minutes later, he saw a sign, telling him that their destination was only a little longer away. He finally arrived in the small town, praying there would be some sort of motel. Thankfully, he saw a small, but nice looking motel. He came to a stop in the parking lot, thinking about waking Scully, but decided against it while he grabbed her badge out of her purse. He quickly went into the reception area, looking for someone to give him a room. A receptionist asked him if he needed help.

"Yeah, I need a bigger room for two." He also flashed his and Scully's FBI badges. "My partner's out in the car; she's been sick and I didn't want to drag her out in this rain if we couldn't get a room."

The receptionist nodded before getting up to get a key from a cabinet.

"Room 5. Go to the left, and it should be in that hall."

"Thanks." He said. The woman flashed him a smile before going back to what she was doing before. Mulder walked outside to the car, going to the driver's seat to open the trunk.

"Scully?" Mulder whispered. She looked at him, a little dizzy still. "We're in Parkview. I got a room." Scully nodded before opening the car door, jerking up in surprise at the rain. He grabbed both suitcases from the trunk before slamming it shut. Scully walked a little unsteady at first, but got better as they went inside. The same receptionist stared at her as she walked down the hall, seeing why Mulder said she had been sick. When they walked into the dark room, she felt the nausea start to return. She was able to make it to the bathroom before the few contents of her stomach spilled into the toilet. Then the heaves started to come. It seemed to take forever for the nausea to subside. When it stopped completely, she sat on the tile, leaned against the bathtub. Ten minutes later, she still hadn't come out.

"Scully? You alright?" Mulder asked. No response. Fear took hold of him as he quickly opened the door, finding her crying. He went in, trying to help her walk to the bed, but she was in no condition to walk. Without thinking, he picked her up and carried her to the bed. He gently set her on the bed, asking her if she wanted anything. She shook her head no. Mulder then went to the car, and searched around town for some store. He finally found an IGA and practically ran inside. People stared at him as he searched the aisles for medicines. He looked through the different sections and decided on Thera-Flu. When he was at the checkout aisle, he grabbed a 7-Up as well. When he returned to the motel, Scully was sound asleep, looking even more exausted than before. He reluctantly woke her, not wanting to take her away from the wonderful solitude of sleep. She looked at him before giving a weak smile.

"Hi." She whispered. He smiled at her as well before opening the bottle of soda and the medicine.

"Here, take these with the 7-Up. Just drink it slowly, I don't want to see you throw up any more." He said. She nodded before taking a small sip of the fizzy drink. Discovering how thirsty she was, she took a few large gulps before putting the pills in her mouth as well. "Slow down!" Mulder warned her.

"I was thirsty." She said quietly. Exausted from sitting up for only a few minutes, she layed back down, feeling the heavenly comfort of her pillow. He laid down with her for a little while, rubbing her warm hand. When he was sure she was asleep, he jumped in the shower. How good it felt; the warm water against his clammy skin. When he was dressed, he turned off the television and let himself slide slowly into bed. He woke a few times that night to make sure Scully was okay, and he noticed that her fever had gone down. Right when he saw a glimpse of the sun starting to rise, he fell into a deep slumber, finally waking up at ten in the morning. Rubbing his eyes, he heard the sounds of the shower running. Scully came out in a towel, surprised to see him awake.

"I didn't know if you'd ever get up." She teased him.

"Well, I stayed up half the night just to make sure you weren't puking your insides out." He said. She smiled at him, truly smiled. "I see you don't look like a ghost anymore. How are you feeling?"

"A lot better. I guess that stuff really did the trick." She answered. Mulder avoided looking at her as she changed. She didn't like him to even see her in her underwear anymore, partly because of how she looked during her pregnancy. When she at least had a shirt on, he went into the bathroom to brush his teath. When he came out, he saw her still staring at her reflection in the mirror. He latched his arms around her from her back, hugging her.

"I think you look fine." Mulder said gently. Scully looked down, obviously not agreeing with him. "I don't care if anyone even teases you. No matter who it is, I will punch them in the face if they say one thing." He said defiantly. She smiled.

"Thanks. That's a comforting thought." She said. He kissed her wet hair with that statement. "By the way, I don't know if I can thank you enough for taking care of me these last few days. I bet it was kind of hard watching me throw up as much as I did."

"It wasn't that bad seeing it, but I just hated seeing you so sick."

"Mulder, next time you're sick, remind me to do the same thing for you."

"It's a deal." He said with a grin.


	2. Chapter 2

Mulder hesitated before rapping on the door.

"I don't know if we should see her mother. When I contacted her on the phone, she seemed pretty upset."

"Mulder, what would you expect? She's divorced and has no one except her daughter, who has been kidnapped. Of course she's going to be at least a little traumatized." Scully said expectantly. He nodded before knocking on the door. A woman opened the door, looked at them, and was about ready to close it as well.

"I know who you are. You think I killed her, don't you." The woman said. Scully shook her head in a negative fashion.

"No, we don't think that. We just came to ask you some questions about your daughter." She explained gently. The woman looked at her less accusing, more sad than before.

"Oh I'm sorry. The police have been accusing me of taking her and killing..." Her voice drifted away, too saddened to say any more. "I'm Lily."

"I'm Agent Mulder and this is Agent Scully." Mulder said. "Can we come in?"

"Yes." Lily said, opening the door wider. Both him and Scully walked in, following Lily into the living room. They sat down on a comfortable looking couch.

"If you wonder, we are very sure that your daughter, Nadine, was kidnapped. Neither myself or Agent Mulder think you would have done anything to hurt her."

"You two were very close, weren't you." Mulder said. Lily nodded her head.

"I would never even let my ex-husband lay a finger on her, and I never even considered spanking her." Lily answered. "I loved her so much, and I did everything I could for her. Before I got the job I have now, I didn't make a lot of money, but I still did as much as I could."

"Lily, you don't think your ex-husband did this, do you?" Scully asked.

"No. Jeff is a good man. He has a temper, but he has always loved her very much."

"I think what Agent Scully means is, did he have anything against you after the divorce?" Mulder said.

"We divorced because we just fought all of the time. We get along very well now, and he still cares about me, I know." Lily answered, smiling. Scully nodded.

"Would it be alright if we took a look around Nadine's room, just to see if there's any evidence of anything?'' Scully asked.

"That would be fine." Lily answered.

"You do that Scully, I'm going to talk to Lily a little longer." Mulder said. Scully walked down the hallway to a closed door, opening it to find a bright pink bed spread in an immaculately lit room. She started to search through drawers for a journal, photo album, anything that might point to a suspect. Her eyes stopped on a newspaper clipping in a cluttered drawer. Nadine was pictured, stating that she was the student of the week. She realized that the drawer was filled with nothing but band music, certificates for musical accomplishments, and photos. She stared at a congratulations sign, saying that she was part of the all-district band. There were many programs, with Nadine being first on lists for solos, accomplishments, and more recognition. Mulder walked in, watching her stare at all of the pictures of Nadine.

"She was so good Mulder..."

"What do you mean?" He asked, confused.

"She was first seat clarinet all through junior high and in the all-district band. She had so many solos, she did so much... Why would anyone do this to her?" Scully said tearfully. He glanced at the picture of the entire junior high band Scully held in her hand.

"It makes me scared to know that this could happen to ours..." She whispered.

"You know, I wonder if her band director would know anything." Mulder said, changing the subject.

"Go ask Lily if she knows his name, I'll get this stuff back to how it was before." Scully said. After she was done, he was talking to Lily, writing something on a piece of paper.

"Thanks." He said with a smile. "We're doing our best to find Nadine, we just have to find some suspects." Both him and Scully walked out of the door, Scully looking down. "What's wrong?" He asked her.

"I was just thinking back to the days when I played in band and played the piano."

"Were you good?" He asked her.

"I can't exactly say. I loved to play the piano especially. What's hard about Nadine is that she plays the clarinet, and so did I." She answered, smiling. "I was first seat through high school but-" She was interrupted.

"You mean that you beat out juniors and seniors?"

"Yes, and that was just because I took private lessons."

"How long did you play the piano?"

"Well, I started when I was six years old. I loved to play it so much. My mom had me start taking lessons because I could play by ear and I used to play the themes from television shows." She answered. Mulder laughed.

When he took Scully home, he drove to a music store downtown. He purchased a large Casio keyboard, and he drove off to a Hallmark store to purchase some gift wrap. He drove back to his apartment quickly, and after closing the door, he tried to wrap the box somewhat neatly, and as quickly as he came in, he ran out. In a matter of twenty minutes, Mulder was at Scully's apartment door, knocking softly. She opened it, surprised to see him standing there.

"I got you something." He said, showing her the gift. She stared at him, wondering why on earth he would buy her something so large. After coming in, he closed the door before handing her the gift. She sat on the couch while tearing the paper off, her eyes growing wide at seeing the new keyboard.

"Mulder, why did you get me this?" She asked, still somewhat shocked.

"I want you to play something." He said with a sweet smile. After getting the keyboard out of the box and setting it up, the room was filled with the eerie melody of the first movement of Moonlight Sonata. Her eyes were closed, her fingers seemingly moving on their own without any control. She played with so much feeling, so beautifully, and Mulder was mesmerized by the song.

"I used to be able to play it better-"

"Are you kidding me? That was... I can't even find a word to say how beautiful that was." Scully played for a while, shocking him with fast songs, more slow songs, and some of the most odd sounding songs he had ever heard. They were sitting on the couch later in the night, watching TV.

"Hey Scully?"

"Yes?"

"Do you think that the baby will be able to play like you?"

"I don't know, but it's fun to hope, right?" She answered. He nodded at her before kissing her forehead.

_I've always wanted Scully to be able to play the piano, even if she can't sing. I'll be updating soon. Maybe it's the band director... maybe it's the father... who knows who kidnapped Nadine... _


	3. Chapter 3

Mulder looked down at a dark-haired man that was sitting. The man stared deep into Mulder's hazel eyes.

"Did you know Nadine very well?"

"I didn't know her personally, but I knew her well enough to know that she was an excellent musician." The man, Aidan Shafer answered.

"Mr. Shafer, you do understand that you are a suspect, don't you?" Mulder asked, raising his eyebrows. Shafer ignored his statement.

"I was aware when she became one of my students that her parents were divorced, and I was very surprised when I found how good she was, musically and intellectually." Mulder stared at him, getting impatient.

"You understand that I am accusing you of kidnapping her." Mulder asked.

"Yes." Shafer answered flatly.

"So you had no personal relationship with Nadine whatsoever, is that correct?"

"I knew her as a musician, and by that, I mean that by the way she played, I knew she was a compassionate, intelligent person." He answered.

"My partner and I have gone through Nadine's journal, and she makes it seem like you two were pretty good friends."

"She was my best student, and we often talked about a lot of things. She has been interested in conducting, and I have talked to her a lot about that. She tells me a lot about her mother, and how her clarinet lessons are going, and just a lot of different subjects." Shafer answered. "She tutored several students and helped me set up for concerts. You're going to get to know someone pretty well when they are the only person in the class that tries."

"So she was an extremely good musician." Mulder said.

"I've never seen anyone like her. She's made All-District as 1st seat all through junior high, and they were ready to put her in the high school band."

"Has there been anyone that has shown hate or jealousy towards Nadine?"

"Yes. There has been one girl; the third seat clarinet, Isabelle Reynolds. She has never stopped hating Nadine for everything that she has accomplished. Isabelle never practices, never even tries, and yet she expects to be 1st seat."

"It sounds frustrating." Mulder said with a smile.

"Unbelievably. I have so many students like that, and I can barely get them to play above Nadine, because she's the only one that can play out." Shafer said, nodding his head.

"Well Mr. Shafer, I don't think you seem to be a culprit, but if you do know anything, just call me." Mulder said, writing his phone number down on a piece of paper. "By the way, would you happen to have Isabelle's phone number?"

"Yes, I have some phone numbers in my laptop in the car." Shafer answered pleasantly.

-O-O-O-O-O-

A few hours later, a pale, dark-haired girl sat in front of Mulder. She glared at him furiously while he stared into her dark eyes, trying not to lose his temper from the arrogant ways of this girl.

"I didn't do anything to her. So what if she bragged about every damn thing she could do. She pissed me off, but I'd never be stupid enough to kidnap her." Isabelle said.

"You understand why I have to question you, right?"

"Because you think that I'm a malicious serial killer." She answered sarcastically. At that statement, Mulder lost his nerve to keep his temper down low.

"Look," His voice was low and threatening. "If you want to get convicted for something you did do, fine. If you don't want to get convicted and you do anyway, fine. But we are running out of time. By now, Nadine could already be dead." Isabelle's glare had turned into a sour look of sadness. "Can you honestly tell me that even though you hate her, you did nothing to hurt her?" Mulder asked angrily. Her eyes started to fill with guilty tears.

"I told a friend of mine about her one day, and a couple of days later, he told me that I wouldn't have to deal with her any longer. That was the day that Nadine was reported missing. I swear on my life that I didn't mean for anything to happen..." Isabelle was sobbing. "His name's Carlos. He's done everything bad you can think of."

"Isabelle, is there anywhere that you can think of that he could have taken her?"

"There's an abandoned house on Elm street that he dealt drugs in and met people in. I don't know if she's there, but that'd be your best bet."

"Thank you Isabelle. I don't know if we'll find her there, but this definitely helps." Mulder said gently.

"When you find her, tell her that I'm so sorry... and that I never wanted her to get hurt in the first place."

"I'll make sure I'll tell her that." He answered, smiling. Without her knowing it, he quickly turned off a hidden tape recorder.

-O-O-O-O-O-

A day later, back in Washington DC, Mulder and Scully were in her apartment listening to the recording of the interrogation.

"I found some records on this Carlos, and he's basically everything Isabelle described him as. Arson, drug abuse, drug dealing, shoplifting, harassment, burglary, and a few charges of murder as well. Looks like this kid has put his life down the drain. She said quietly.

"And yet, he's only seventeen, and the charges started at eight years old. How can kids end up like this Scully?"

"Wanting attention, depression, child abuse... he's of course probably had an awful home life." She answered.

"Hey, before we get preoccupied with more paperwork, could you refresh my mind with some Moonlight Sonata?" Mulder asked, giving her a puppy dog look. Scully could of course not fight that look, and with a fake sigh, she walked over to the keyboard in the corner and the room was once again filled with the haunting, beautiful melody of Moonlight Sonata.


	4. Chapter 4

Mulder pulled up to a nice looking home, but after he and Scully got out of the car, they turned around to a desolate, abandoned house. She stared at the boarded windows and broken doors, feeling a slight shiver of fear. They both walked quickly and silently to an opened door. Mulder peeked inside cautiously, finally giving Scully a nod of safety. They walked as quietly as they could, but that was a very difficult task with the creaking and squeaking of the floorboards. As they were tiptoeing up the stairs, there was a loud crash. When they reached the upstairs, they ran face to face with a scrawny, seventeen-year-old boy. They were ready to draw their guns, but both of them were too late before the boy, Carlos, was able to make a shot at Scully. He ran out the window as Mulder felt his entire world click to a stop. His breath left him as he saw Scully crumble to the floor, blood flowing from her upper chest. He searched for a towel, finding a reasonably clean one and he pressed it hard to the wound. Mulder dug for his cell phone in his back pocket, frantically dialing 9-1-1. His voice cracked tearfully as he told them that he had an agent down. After hanging up, he picked Scully up and practically ran down the steps to the outside part of the house.

"Scully..." He whispered, tears starting to run down his face. She stirred, opening her eyes slowly, the throbbing pain almost taking her from consciousness instantly. She opened her mouth, but no words come out, only a painful moan. Mulder warned her not to speak, feeling his surroundings start to come back to place. When the ambulence arrived, he made sure that they were very gentle with her, trying to avoid the most ammount of distress. Before the doors of the vehicle closed, Scully drifted away from the real world, the white-hot pain keeping her from her surroundings. She vaguely felt a cold cloth put on her chest, and she felt some of the pain start to drift away. While in the ambulance, the attendant was able to remove the bullet and dress the wound, saying that she was lucky it wasn't even a few inches to the left. Mulder didn't ask, didn't even want to think about what would have happened then. After they arrived at the hospital, the nurses checked her vital signs and checked on the baby as well, seeing nothing seriously wrong. A few hours later, Scully woke to find many bandages covering her chest and a machine checking the baby's heartbeat. She watched the screen, tears of relief surrounding her eyes. Mulder was in a chair, snoring slightly in a very uncomfortable looking position. Just as she touched his hand, his hazel eyes fluttered open. He stared at her for a moment before giving her a hug.

"Everything is fine. You're fine, and the baby's fine." He said with a smile. He leaned in to kiss her, but ended up kissing her forehead instead. He of course wanted to kiss her, but his instincts told him not to. Their faces were still close together, and ignoring the negative cries of his conscience, he brought his lips to her's in a gentle but perfect kiss. "Maybe that can give us both more courage than we know." They looked deep into each others' eyes for a moment before they hugged in a tight embrace.

"Mulder, this isn't some way to butter me up to get me off the case is it?" She demanded, changing the mood completely.

"Of course not, but now that I think about it..." He said sharply.

"Stop it. Do you truly want to find Nadine as much as I do?"

"Of course Scully."

"Why don't you stop worrying and trying to protect me all of the time?"

"You know I do not want you to put your life and your child's in danger!"

"Mulder," She was softer now. "I have put my trust into you a countless number of times. Can you do the same for me just once?" Mulder looked into her eyes, knowing that she was right.

"Okay, but if we hear even one damn thing-"

"I'll get out of there as quickly as I can."

"You'd better, because whoever made the sound will probably be dead by the time I get done with them." He said fircely. She smiled.

"Only you Mulder."

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

Mulder walked up the stairs, no longer trying to be as quiet as possible. Before both him and Scully came in, he checked all of the rooms in the house, making sure there were no surprise killers. Scully was behind him, her eyes wide with fear of death. A horrible feeling lingered in both of their minds. When they both reached the top of the stairs, they took seperate rooms. After over half an hour, they still found nothing. Scully walked into the room Mulder was in, sitting on a chair to silence her throbbing feet. He looked through a closet, a look of disgust and misery on his face, and was about to slam the door after not finding a thing. A small door inside the closet door cought Scully's eye. She jumped from the chair, her heart pounding.

"What? There's not anything in there."

"A door. There's a door." She whispered. Mulder looked at her, his eyes wide with surprise. Her hands trembled before she opened the door. She felt her breath leave her chest as she stared at a tied up body of a girl. He saw it too, and quickly got the girl out of the hidden place. He set her on the filthy floor, his eyes searching for some sign of life in her. Scully held her wrist, not feeling a pulse. The girl's eyes had dark cirlces under them and had a hollow look, which made it obvious that she had been starved.

"Nadine..." Scully whispered. A small sob escaped her throat, and she put her hand over her mouth in misery. Mulder hugged her, feeling the same despair from defeat. Suddenly, the thin girl let out a cough. Her eyes blinked at the sudden light and started to wimper with fear.

"Nadine, it's okay..." Scully was bent over and had her hand under Nadine's head. She stared at Scully's red hair, milky white skin, and ice blue eyes.

"Are you an angel?" The girl whispered.

"Not quite.. You aren't dead. You've been found." She answered. "You can call me Dana." Nadine saw the lump on her stomach from the pregnancy.

"What do you say we get you home?" Mulder said.

"Dana?" The girl whispered. "Can you make promises?"

"Of course."

"Can you promise me that you won't let this happen to your baby?" Nadine asked softly. Mulder was already downstairs, unable to hear the conversation.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

Scully stared out the window of the car, watching the endless cornfields go by.

"You alright?" Mulder asked quietly.

"I'm scared. Scared that I can't keep Nadine's promise."

"And what promise is that?"

"That nothing like that will happen to our baby." She answered, a shiver coming from sadness. "I really hope I can keep that promise." He nodded.

"Well, it's fun to hope, right?"

The End


End file.
